Is this destiny?

While Sarah and Aiden are enjoying their five-day-date, JoAnna is accompanying Jeff on his business trip.

~ Paris, France ~

JoAnna woke up in a presidential suite of a hotel in Paris, next to Jeff. She snuggled next to him and inhaled his scent. JoAnna was grateful that she can join him on a business trip like this. After few stolen minutes of caressing his toned abs while he slept, she checked time.

JoAnna knows that he has meetings starting in the morning, so she can\'t let him sleep. "Jeff, honey… it\'s time to wake up.", she kissed him gently.

He smiled for a second and then puckered his lips demanding more kisses without opening his eyes.

She wondered how long is he awake. He probably enjoyed her feeling out his abs, pretending to be asleep. She giggled and gave him what he wanted, with interest. When his hand landed on the back of her head and he deepened the kiss while his other hand started kneading her behind, she struggled to move away. "You will be late!"

Only then he opened his eyes and frowned.

"French people are always late." He flashed a smile and pulled her back to him.

JoAnna didn\'t object. Feeling her man early morning in Paris, or anywhere else, was just what she wished for.

…

They got ready for the day and breakfast was delivered to their room.

JoAnna sat on the balcony with a great view of Eiffel Tower, waiting for Jeff to join her.

He came from behind, gave her a quick kiss and grabbed a pastry. "I need to go."

She frowned seeing that he is in his business suit and ready to head out. "What about French people being late?"

"I lied…", He grinned and went to get his briefcase with hurried steps.

Jeff came back few seconds later for another quick kiss and one more pastry. "Stay safe, don\'t go anywhere alone, I will let you know when I\'m done… and I made dinner plans." He gave her one more quick kiss before stuffing pastry in his mouth and rushing out of their hotel suite.

JoAnna didn\'t get a chance to respond, he was already gone. She exhaled and shook her head thinking how silly Jeff is. \'He lied…\', she giggled.

JoAnna looked at coffee, pastries and fruits on the table, and got her phone. She texted Bridgette to join her when Steve leaves.

Of course, Bridgette came less than a minute later, since Steve left with Jeff.

Two of them had breakfast while planning for the day. Previous night they got various brochures with tourist attractions from the lobby.

Bridgette was interested in Louvre museum, but JoAnna was not very excited about that. "It\'s always crowded, and even if we pay extra for personal tour so that we avoid waiting in line to get in, you still need to wait in order to see the exhibits… if we go there, it will take at least three hours."

That made Bridgette change her mind. She was not excited about the crowds.

JoAnna said that they can visit other places, and they went through brochures which listed a large selection of museums, castles, restaurants, small eateries, gardens open to public, shopping areas...

They agreed to go to few smaller museums, close to downtown Paris. They will have lunch in Eiffel Tower which JoAnna already got reservations for, and after lunch is shopping in Rue Saint-Honoré until their legs ache or Jeff and Steve are done with work, whichever comes first.

JoAnna and Bridgette spent the morning visiting two museums out of four that they originally planned, and it was already time for lunch.

They had lunch in the restaurant in Eiffel Tower. Great view, great food, great company. JoAnna missed Jeff and sent him few photos of her and Bridgette, view, food, and sad emojis as well as few others, to show him that she is missing him.

…

Few miles away, Jeff was having lunch with Steve, and his business partners. His phone was on silent, but everyone could see that the screen was getting lit up with icons of hearts, emojis sending kisses and crying. Jeff smiled seeing messages from JoAnna and took his time to respond. Steve helped him to master the emoji-texting, so he sent few of those as well.

His business partners didn\'t mind. They explained that it\'s normal for a man to show extra care for his mistress.

Jeff frowned at these words, not understanding why they think he has a mistress.

French business partners didn\'t believe that the girl on the other side is not a mistress. They all had wives and girlfriends and mistresses. They are proud to keep the reputation of French people as great lovers.

Jeff and Steve only glanced at each other with silent understanding that they will not mention that to JoAnna and Bridgette in order to avoid any potential misunderstandings.

…

JoAnna was happy to see Jeff\'s responses. She kept her phone away. "I don\'t want to disturb him. I know he is in a meeting. How come you didn\'t text Steve?"

"We agreed not to contact each other during work hours, unless it\'s urgent.", Bridgette responded. "Besides, I\'m having lunch with my Boss. How can I text?"

"Oh? You decided to be my assistant?", JoAnna smiled.

Bridgette smiled back. "Look at all this… I already went to Brazil and I\'m in France, and I didn\'t even sign a contract… being your assistant has a lot of benefits. I would be crazy to refuse. Also, I can be close to Steve."

"Well, we should order something to celebrate!", JoAnna waved to the waiter. "I will get Jeff to prepare documentation for you to officially become my assistant, as soon as we get back to Los Angeles." They ordered desserts.

"You will be busy right away, I\'m looking for a house, and will be planning a wedding… but after that we will take month long honeymoon. You can treat that as one-month long vacation." JoAnna explained.

Bridgette could not hide her thoughts, "House shopping, wedding and then one month off. I like it already."

They both laughed.

"I got a task to find out your opinion on one thing…", JoAnna spoke over a delicate chocolate soufflé. "Sophia wanted to ask you, but Felix is always around so she thought that I might get a chance to talk about this with you without Felix eavesdropping. It\'s related to their wedding."

Bridgette took a bite of chocolate dessert and waited for JoAnna to talk.

"As you know, Sophia wants to invite your mother… and Felix is against it… what do you think?"

"I don\'t have opinion if my mother should attend their wedding or not." Bridgette responded.

"Not that…" JoAnna shook her head and explained. "Sophia wants to hear your opinion why is Felix so against it. He does not want to talk about it, and Sophia is trying to understand. How she sees it, this is once in a lifetime event, and it would be pity not to have mother of the groom attending. Do you think that she will cause a scene? Ruin a wedding? Sophia hopes that if your mother comes and sees them in love, surrounded with friends and family that she will accept them as well."

Bridgette listened to JoAnna carefully and nodded. "My mother is a difficult person. I don\'t know exactly what happened when my brother took Sophia to visit maman, but I know that she had someone else planned as a perfect partner for my brother. And I can assume that from start, Sophia had no chance in maman\'s eyes… because she is not that other woman. Now… is maman capable to cause a scene? Yes. Ruin a wedding? Maybe. But maman likes to maintain image of a lady in public, so I don\'t think that she will do anything openly. Scheming? Yes, especially if she finds allies. But openly, she will at most ignore things she disapproves of." Bridgette finished her answer and added before JoAnna could ask more questions: "This is only my opinion. I believe that my brother will have similar thoughts. It is highly probably that he does not want maman there because he does not want Sophia to have any stress. If maman gets a chance to do something without being noticed, she will not hesitate… Felix brought Sophia, and maman opposed. Felix ignored her. Maman is angry, she will not let it go."

JoAnna thought for some time. "It does not seem you like her, do you?"

Bridgette showed a bitter smile, and her eyes became sad. "Maman? I grew up in her house… but my brother raised me. Without him, I don\'t know how things would turn out. As I said, she is a difficult person. There is a reason why I moved all the way to Los Angeles as soon as I finished my education and I had enough savings."

JoAnna nodded in understanding and didn\'t want to probe more into the topic. It seems that their mom is not a person who is easy to get along with.. Two of them didn\'t speak much while finishing their desserts, each with her own thoughts.